Elderly Home Care Providers Use Tech to Save Money

Elderly care is a both crucial and expensive part of healthcare. The industry has learned that keeping elders at home as long as possible can cut wasted resources and costs drastically. The moment you move individuals into an assisted living home, all-new costs related to daily life must added. Food, furniture, cooks, repairmen, drivers, community services, and everything in between must be taken care of. Now, service providers are enlisting tech tools to make home care more efficient and safer than ever.

It’s often assumed that service providers will be low on funds and low on resources. This is why healthcare and service providers are regularly looking to make the very most of the tools available. Here’s how technology is changing the way they work.

Every elderly care patient is an individual. They have specific needs and requirements. Every nurse or caregiver will also have their own defining abilities and traits. That means someone must carefully pair each nurse with each patient when scheduling. The result is an often laborious process that simply can’t be done away with.

However, by enlisting smarter platforms, this can be largely automatized. No more overwhelming Excel sheets–just an up-to-date schedule based on patient, nurse, and other data. This means individuals originally assigned to scheduling can be put to better use elsewhere.

Perhaps the most crucial and also well-known use of technology in elderly home care is fall alerts. There are several types of alert systems already available. The one-click necklace or bracelet that alerts doctors is now famous among families and providers. Of course, these tools can also be clunky and dated. This is where new technology comes in, and it’s making changes in all kinds of ways.

First, the bracelets. The big, uncomfortable bracelets elderly patients have been subjected to for decades are finally get less annoying. Better technology means providers can make the tool smaller or less rigid. They become easier-to-wear and easier to use. Plus, GPS, motion sensors, and others are being integrated into these bracelets to bring new automated capabilities.

On the other side of the spectrum, technology is drastically changing home care by revamping how we think about fall alerts. Tools like Alexa and other voice control systems are also helping those who fall. Through different channels, these systems are able to allow the elderly to alert others about their situation just by speaking.

What about sensor pads and mats?

These also help monitor movements and keep the elderly safe. However, these are only helpful in certain scenarios. Should a person fall in a bathroom where there is no sensor mat, they could be there for hours. Also, these mats alone often don’t lead to the person receiving immediate help. It’s connected tools with sensors, like a wristband with an accelerometer, that are there to help in all situations. Whether it’s a fall from the bed or in the bathroom, that information should be immediately accessible via an app or similar system. That information should trigger an alert so the fallen individual doesn’t have to wait.

Yet another part of the home care solution provider’s job includes proving compliance to any regulations and taking care of their staff. How can a provider be absolutely certain their staff is performing each task in a timely manner? For situations like elderly care, stringent adherence to schedules and rules isn’t just important legally, it’s crucial for the patient.

Here’s another place Bluetooth beacons and other proximity-aware solutions come in handy. By using technology to verify the nurse or caregiver’s location, providers know their customers are getting the right care.

Not every assisted living facility or nursing home will have doctors. Most staff in these facilities are busy with their daily work and unable to constantly monitor small changes in patients’ health. Even for those who are skilled and experience, the simple lack of free time makes monitoring difficult. This is why many are turning to technology that can keep regular tabs on heart beat, temperature, and other signs automatically. As a result, small indicators of an oncoming problems are more easily flagged and patients experiencing difficulty can be more easily helped and cared for.

Confused or mentally ill patients pose another serious problem for facilities. Keeping patients secure and on the premises without causing stress or worrying about human error is a problem that has long plagued these facility managers. That’s why technology is now being developed to track patients with dementia and similar issues without being intrusive or wasting resources. For example, a bracelet that shows location information can be used to quickly find a lost patient. Similarly, access points can be controlled using sensors to send an alert the moment a patient crosses a specific point.

Physical guards and barriers have the two-fold problem of being subject to human error and also seeming intrusive, causing stress. Instead, a digitalized system can simply alert caregivers as to problems as they unfold. This automated, invisible barrier would mean less errors, fewer escapes, and a better experience for all patients.

The most important factor for each of these use cases is clear focus on the end result. Because healthcare providers are often low on excess funds — and usually have complicated hoops to jump through when purchasing — knowing exactly what you hope to get out of a solution is crucial. A good ROI will relate directly to how well the solution solves a problem.

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